Local & Sustainable

EWG works to promote policies and grow markets that support local, regional, sustainable and organic food systems in order to expand opportunities for farmers, improve access to healthier food and protect the environment.

America’s farmers lost out on over $1.5 billion in sales of organic soybeans and corn between 2012 and 2017, according to agricultural trade data released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This Fourth of July, many Americans will fire up the grill to cook for their families and friends. But choosing safe, sustainable meat to grill can be confusing. Follow EWG’s tips to pick the best meat for your holiday weekend cookout.

The nutritional and environmental benefits of organic agriculture are two of the main reasons that shoppers seek out organic foods and other products. But did you know organic is also good for the local economy?

It may sound corny, but it’s time to celebrate good old-fashioned fruits and veggies of the organic bent. We have been told since we were toddling to “eat your fruits and veggies dear.” We know that eating our fill will give us the finest of fiber and the vitality of vitamins and minerals. Loading up on fresh fare will keep us off the path to heart disease and obesity. If you’re like me, it’s comforting to know you can eat as much as you want and not feel the guilt or the bulge. There is, however, one important side note to this verdant theme. Organic fresh produce is your best path to health and even prosperity!

Health, environmental justice and consumer watchdog groups are joining independent research scientists to warn policymakers about the serious, if unintended, health risks posed by misguided government advice that could encourage pregnant women to eat unsafe amounts of mercury-laden tuna.

A new analysis by Environmental Working Group has found that harmful artificial trans fatty acids lurk in more than 27 percent of more than 84,000 processed foods common in American supermarkets. Another 10 percent contain ingredients likely to contain trans fat.

Environmental Working Group and Mercury Policy Project strongly disagree with a federal scientific panel’s recommendation, made public last week, that federal agencies stop warning pregnant women to limit their consumption of high-mercury albacore tuna.

Around the world, food production occupies more land than any other human activity (about 40 times the area of all cities and suburbs combined), uses more freshwater than anything else people do and is a major source of carbon pollution in the air and nitrogen pollution in the water.

So it should be obvious that the food choices we make in supermarkets, restaurants and in our homes have a big influence on the world around us. Making small changes in what we eat can have big environmental benefits.

EWG’s Food Scores shows that 100 percent of stuffing mixes have added sugar in them. Not only that, but nearly half of them have ingredients I’d rather avoid because they raise potentially “higher” concerns for health, including links to cancer, and about a quarter have ingredients that raise “moderate” concerns.